Single-trigger mechanism.



' PATENTED MAR. 1'7, 1903.

J. J. HE SON, SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM.

APPLIOATIOKPEILBD OCT. 9, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 no MODEL. I

Witnesses 'No. 722,706. VIPATBNTED MAR. 17, 19.03.

'J. J. HEWSON. SINGLE TRIGGER MECHANISM.

APPLIdAIION FILED OUT. 9, 1901.

no MODEL.

{j a? J? Wimesses: 'Jl/IIGJ fll wa'alglnvenrof @Mforneys in: NnRRls PETERS 6a., wasummu, u. c.

UNITED STATES JAMES JOIlN HEVVSON, OF MACLEOD, CANADA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WILLIAM FRANCIS GOCHRANE, OF MACLEOD, CANADA.

SINGLEIPTRIGGER MECHANISM;

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 722,706, dated March 17, 1903.

Application filed October 9,1901.

T all jwhomit ntrty concern:

'Be it known that 1, JAMES J OHN Hnwson, a subject of His Majesty the King of Great Britaimresiding at Macleod, Alberta, North- Vest Territories, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Singlelrigger Mechanism for Double-Barreled Fire-. arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,- clear, and exact description of the I o invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to a single-triggermechanism for double-barreled guns-as, for I 5 example, for breech-loading shotguns of that class in which the barrels break downward in order to'open the gun for loading and to simultaneously cockthe hammers of the locks for the right and left hand b arrels -although 2c the principle of this invention may be availed of in the construction of other types of guns,

One object thatI have in view in the present invention is the provision of a simple, eiiicient, and thoroughly practical sin gle-t'riggcr mechanism in which the discharge of one barrel is followed by the automaticoperation of the parts. of the trigger mechanism. in a manner to place the same in condition for'firing the second barrel, sothat when an inten- 0 tional second pull on the trigger is' made by the shooter said second barrel will be discharged, whereby thetwo barrels may be discharged by simply exerting the necessary number of pulls on one and the-same trigger 5 and the discharge of the second barrel may take'place, not necessarily and immediately following that of the first barrel, but at any desired interval and at the pleasure or will of the inarksnian. .0 A further object of the invention is the provision of recoil-actuated locking mechanism in operative relation to the singletrigger mechanism,designed and intended to automatically and effectively prevent the unintentional discharge of the second barrel immediately following the firing of the cartridge inthe first barrel, which accidental discharge of said second'barrel is due under some circumstances to the recoil of the gun immediately following the discharge of the first barrel, causing the marksman to pull the trigger Serial No. 78,080. (No model.)

a second time without his everbeing conscious of such a second pull on the trigger.

One feature of the invention is arecoil-actuated mechanism occupying an operative re- 5 5 lation to the single-trigger mechanism and adapted to prevent the trigger from moving -far enough toward its normal position teallow the sear-actuator to. moveinto position for firing the second barrel during-the period of recoil of the gun.

The invention further consists in the novel combinations of mechanisms and in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In order-that others skilled in the art may fully understand my invention in its relation to the standard makes of breech-loading guns, I haveillustrated'difierent embodimentsof said invention in connetion with difierent types of guns by the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of certain parts of the gun known as a Baker gun and representing the singletrigger mechanism in position for firing the right-hand barrel. Fig. 2 is a skeleton plan view of the single-trigger mechanism occupying its normal operative relation to the right and left locks of the gun shown by Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a'view in side elevation, showing the parts of the right look after the first barrel shall have been discharged and with 85 the single trigger in position for actuating the left lock in order todischarge the second barrel. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the right look removed from the gun and representing the sear-tail which forms the op- 0 erative connection between-the single trigger and the sear for the-hammer of the right look.

Fig. 5 is a detached perspective view of the trigger. Fig. 6 is'a like viewof the triggerplater Fig. 7 is a similar view of the actue 5 ator. Fig. 8 is a-like view of the recoil-setup; ated locking device. Fig. 9'is a similar view of the slidable setting-piece adapted to be actuated' on the'cocking of the gun and toplace the actuator in position for engagement with I00 the sear of one look. Fig. '10 is adeta il view of a spring adapted to actuate both thelri gger and the actuator. Figs. 11 and 12 are details of a eockingdever of the type used in the Baker gun. Figs. 13 and 14 are detail views of parts associated with a Baker gun adapted to secure the certain action of the recoil-detent.

The same numerals of reference denote like parts in each of the several figures of the drawmgs.

The breech of the gun is indicated by the numeral 5, the forward part of the body or frame by the numeral 6, the barrel-locking lever by the. nu meral 7 and the hammer-cock ing lever by the numeral 8. cocking lever'is shown in detail by Figs. 11 and 12, and the upstanding arm of this lever is provided with the laterally-extending arms 9 9, which are arranged to have engagement simultaneously with the hammers of the right and left hand gun-locks, said gun Jocks being indicated by the numerals l0 and 11 in Fig. 2. Theright-hand gun-lock is shown detached by Fig. 4 andis also shown by Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, and by reference to these figures it will be seen that each gun-lock is similar to devices ordinary in the art, except that the scars are provided with peculiar constructions of tails. a

As a full and clear understanding of th lock is desirable, reference will be made to Figs. 3 and 4, in which the lock-plate is indicatedby the numeral 12, and the hammer 13 is pivoted at 13 to the lock-plate and is provided with the bent 14. The mainspring 15 is arranged to engage with the flat under face 16 of the hammer and is seated upon a projection 17 of the lock-plate, and the sear 18 is provided with an upstanding ear 19, that is pivoted at 20 to the lock-plate, said scar and the upper member of the mainspring 15 being arranged in such relation to each other that said spring member wiil engage with the under face of the sear when the hammer is thrown to the position shown by Fig. 3 in order to impel the firing-pin, whereby the sear will beheld in its raised position by the energy of the spring. The sear 18 for the right-hand gun-lock is provided with a sear-tail 21, that extends from the lock inwardlytoward the median line-of the gun, so that it may have proper engagement with the sear-actuator to be hereinafter described, and the-sear 18 for the left-hand gun-lock 11 has a tail 22, which, as shown by Fig. 2, from the look toward the median line of the gun, as will be readily understood by reference to the drawings. From this description, taken in connection with the previous description, it will be understood that the seartails 21 22 of the sears of the two gun-locks extend in opposite directions from the lock and inwardly toward each other, and assuming that the normal positions of the gun-locks is when both of the hammers 13 shall have been cocked by the action of the arms on the cocking-lever 8 the two sear-tails 21 220E the Said hammer also extends inwardly.

with each other, as shown by Fig. 2, and in position so that the right-hand sear 21 will he in engagement with the sear-actuator, while the sear-tail 22 for the left-hand lock will 00- cupy a position in the path of the sear-actuator which will enable the latter to engage with said sear-tail 22 after the cartridge in the first or right-hand barrel shall have been discharged by the action of the hammer of the right-hand lock upon the firing-pin associated with said barrel when the trigger is purposely pulled a second time after being released subsequent to thefirst discharge.

In the construction of the gun-lock hereinbefore described the sear-tail for the right look may be providedwith a straight rear face 23, and it may also be provided with a curved front face 24., and the sear-tail of the righthand lock is arranged in the normal position of the parts when the gun is loaded to engage with a'notched upper end of the sear-actuator, as will hereinafter appear and as shown more particularly by Fig. l.

25 designates the trigger-plate, which isadapted to be secured to the stock in any usual or preferred Way, said plate being provided with the trigger-guard 26, that is disposed below the outside of the gun. The trigger-plate is provided with an upstanding standard 27, the latter being made fast with the trigger-plate at a point intermediate of its length and said standard having a' horizontal slot 28, formed therethrough below the solid upper end or head of the standard. Furthermore, the trigger-plate is provided with a trigger-slot 29, and adjacent to this slot said trigger-plate is provided with the lugs 30, the latter adapted to support the recoil-actuated detent, to be hereinafter described.

The trigger 31 is shown in detail by Fig. 5 and in its assembled position by Fig. 1. This trigger consists of a finger-piece 32 and the parallel plates 33 34:, the latter being integral with the finger-piece andarranged in such relation one to the other as to form an intermediate slot 35. The parallel plates of the trigger have the notches 36 in the upper front corners thereof. Said plates are arranged with the upstanding cars 37 and with the rearwardly-exteuding lugs 38, the latter having the undercut inclined edges 39. (See Fig. 5.) The trigger is arranged in such relation to the trigger-plate 25 that the fingerpiece may extend into the guard, while the lower portion of the trigger is arranged to work in the slot 29, and the notched portions 36 of the plates of the trigger are arranged to extend into the slot 28 of the standard 27, whereby the trigger is disposed in such relation to the standard that it may be pivotally mounted thereon by means of the transverse pin 40, the latter passing through suitable apertures provided in the plates of the trigger 31 and in the sides of the slotted standard 27. The parallel plates of the pivoted gun-locks will lie substantially in alinement' l trigger also carry or support the pins 41 and I adapted to be mountedupon or carried directly by the pivoted trigger, and it is arranged to have active engagement with the sear-tails v21 22 of the right and left hand gunlocks to be disposed in the path of the-settingpiece 52 and to be held normally inone of its two active positions-t. e., in its forward active position-by the energy of the spring 50, It should be understood that the actuator has two active positions, in the forward one of which it is held by the spring 50, while in'its rear active position it is held by the sear-tail of the right-hand lock. The actuator is indicated in its entirety by thenumeral 43,. and it is arranged between the parextremity allel plates 33 34 of the trigger, the lower end of said actuator being pivoted near its lower directly to the plates by means of a pin 44.

is arranged to extend above the top edges of more,

the parallel plates forming a part ger 31, and the upper front corner of the sear-actuator is notched to form a lip 45 and a shoulder 46. In the style of gun under description the actuator- 43 may h ayejheextreme top face thereof curved'at 47; but this is not essential, and, in fact, the top face of the actuator may slope down from the top of the shoulder, as shown by Fig; 27.' Furtheredge with a lip 48, adapted to serve as a seat for the rear end of the spriug'50, the latter being bent to the curved form shown more clearly by Figs. 1 and and arranged to extend into the slot 35, whichis formed by the parallel plates of the trigger. One end of this spring 50 bears directly upon the top face ofthetrigger-plate. The bent rear end of the springis snugly received in a recess 0r seat which is formed at a point intermediate of its length is arraugedto press upwardly against the under side of the pressure-pin 42, which spans the space or slot of the trigger, whereby the single spring 50 exerts pressure against'the trigger through the actuator and'the actua- 'so as to hold the same normally in aposition lo" actuate the looks upon being pulled,and the same springpresses downwardly upon a seat of the sear-actuator in a mariner to throw the upper unconfined end of said sear-actuator normally. in a' forward direction. The sear-actuatoris, furthermore, provided on'th 'a'tside orface thereof which is 42 is adapted to retain in its place- The upper free end of the actuator of the trig the actuator is provided on its front I by thelip48 of the searactuator, and a curved'p'ortion of the spring opposed to the leftrhand gun-lock with an 0&- standing lug 51, the same being disposed in rear of the lip 45 and the shoulder 46 and adapted to occupy a position wherein it will engage with the sear-tail 22 of the left-hand gun-lock when the sear-actuator is permitted after the discharge of the first or right-hand barrel to be moved forwardly by the energy ment with gun-lock. Y

The setting-piece 52, heretofore referred to, is slid'ably mounted on and between the par 'allel plates of the trigger. The setting-piece ranged to receive the pin 41 and the triggerpivot 40, as clearly shown by Fig. 1, the length of this slot 53 movement. piece is'extended' toward the cocking-lever 8, so as to terminate just in rear of the latter, while the rear end of the setting-piece'terminates just in front of the sear-actuator43, allas clearly shown by Fig. 1, whereby the setting-piece is limited ward reciprocating movement on the trigger,

the. action of the cocking-lever 8 in order to force the actuator 43 back to its rearward position for engagement with the sear-tail 21 of the right-hand gun-lock.-

When the gun is two hammers of the right and left hand locks backwardly into engagement with the scars 18, thus cocking both of the locks, and simultaneously with this action of the parts the its front end, thereby enabling the settingpiece to against the pressure of the spring 50. This rearward movement, of the sear, actuator draws the lug 51 thereof away from engagement with the sear-tail 22 of the left-hand lock and'brin'gs the upper notched end of said sear-actuator in position to receive the sear-tail 21 of 'theright-hand look, so that the lower edge of the sear-tail will rest upon the lip 45, wl1ile the straight rear face 23 of said sear-tail rests against the shoulder 46 of the actuator. The-parts thus assumet-he position shown by Fig. 1, which represents the triggerinechanism in condition to actuate the sear for the lock of the -right-hand'barrel, and

raised to the position shown-byhig; 3, thereby releasingthe hammer of the right-hand lock and allowing the spring 1 5to forciblyimpel the hammer against the tiring-pin, so as to-discharge the cartridge in the right-hand barrel-.1; After. having pulled the trigger the first time in'order to discharge the right-hand barrel and whenjthe triggeris of the spring into a position for engagesaid sear-tail 22 of said left-hand is provided with a longitudinal slot 53,'ar-

being sufficient to allow the setting-piece to have the desired endwise The front end of the setting-v toabackward-and-forand it is adapted to be thrust rearwardlyby setting-piece 52 is forced backwardly by the impingement of the cocking-lever 8 againstforce the sear-actuator rearwardly 13 from the sear 18' opened for loading, the 'cocking-lever8 is actuated, so as to force the when the trigger is pulled the sear-tail 21 is ir'eleased from the finger-press u re the spring 50 returns said trigger to its first position, and as soon as thc-sear-actuator has its notched end disengaged from. the sear-tail 21 said sear-actuator is urged by the spring 50 into the position shown by Fig. 3. A second pull on the trigger will lif tit and the sear-actuator against second barrel.

son for this is probably as follows: When the trigger is pulled the first time and the cartridge in one barrel is discharged, the recoil of the gun caused by the shot drives the grip of the gun back through the hand to some extent, often sufficient to release the trigger, so that the sear-actuator flies forward into the position to discharge the cartridge in the In the meantime the hand will have acquired the motion of the gunstock, and'when the stock is arrested by the resistance of the shoulder the hand will still keep up the motion and the trigger is pulled .for the second time, and in consequence the cartridge in the second barrel is discharged. All this occurs so quickly that the shooter is not conscious of the release of the trigger or of the second pull and cannot perceive any interval between theshots and feels onlyone recoil. To overcome this difficulty, I employ the recoil-actuated locking-detent 54, which is mounted upon a stationary part of the gun, so as to occupy an operative relation to the trigger and is held normally free from engagement with the latter; but when the trigger is pulled the first time and is raised in order to make the right-hand lock discharge the cartridge in the first barrel this detent comes or is brought into locking engagement with the undercut edges 39 of the lugs 38 on said trigger in consequence of the recoil caused by the first shot. This locking-detent is shown in detail by Fig. 8 and in its normal position by Fig. 1, said detent having its lower end fitted loosely between the lugs 30 on the trigger-plate. A pivot-pin 55 passes through these lugs and through the lower portion ofthe detent 54, and with the lower end of this pivoted detent is engaged a spring-56, the same being secured by a screw 57 to the trigger-plate,as shown by Fig. 1. The spring is comparatively light, and its energyis just sufficient to normally hold the locking-detent in a stationary upright position and quite close to the rear edge of the plates 33 34 and thelu gs 38 of the trigger. The locking-detent is fur thermore provided on its front face with a cutaway portion forming a tooth 58, which occumares 'pies'such a relation to the trigger that it is adapted to engage with the undercut edges 39 of the lugs 38 on said trigger when the latter is in a partly-raised position and too high to allow the sear-actuator 43 to slip off the sear-tail 21 of the right-hand lock. Now when the trigger is pulled and the cartridge in the right hand barrel is discharged the recoil drives the gun back through the right hand and the trigger is released, as heretofore extridge in the left-hand barrel immediately afv ter the discharge of the cartridge in the righthand barrel. The undercut edges 39 of the lugs on the trigger are adapted to engage with a beveled top face of the tooth 58 on the lock- -ing-detent, so that the trigger will retain-said detent in its forward position, and hence said trigger will remain safely held up by this engagement with the tooth on the pivoted detent, these parts being so proportioned that the trigger will be held so high that the searactuator will not shift until the gun comes to a period of rest, and the hand of the shooter, still continuing the motion occasioned by the recoil, again presses the trigger without the shooter ever knowing that he has let go the trigger.- As soon as the shooter presses on the trigger, however slightly, and the trigger is moved so as to discharge the lugs 38 from the tooth 58 of the locking-detent the latter is at once brought back to its normal position by the spring 56, thus disengaging the locking-detent from the trigger. When the shooter now intentionally releases the trigger, the latter returns to its normal position by the spring 50 acting on the stud and on the rear portion of the trigger through the sear-actuator and vits pin 44, and the sear-actuator is moved by the same spring, so as to bring the lug 51 into position for engagement with the sear-tail of the left-hand barrel, and hence a second in-' tentional pull of the trigger duly discharges the cartridge in the second barrel.

It is to be understood from the foregoing description that the function of the detent 54 is to prevent the trigger from returning far enough toward its normal position to allow the sear-actuator to change its position while the gun is recoiling. It is essential that the detent 54 shall be tolerably heavy in order that it may have sufficient inertia to overcome the force of the spring 56, the latter serving to hold said detent in its rearmost position just clear of the trigger, and also that the IIO spring 56 shall be only sufficiently strong to return the detent to its normal position promptly.

.To insure the certain action of the recoildetent, it may be advisable to so arrange the parts as to utilize the last part of the movement of the trigger when pulled as the medium to positively force the detent under the rear of the trigger, so as to be ready to hold the trigger up in case of an involuntary release caused by the recoil already explained. In Figs. 13 and 14 I shave shown the positive connection between the trigger and the detent as adapted for a Baker gun.

In Figs. 13 and 14 it will be seen that a narrow finger 15t-is put on the lower rear part of the trigger and a narrow slot is cut in the trigger-plate back from the wide trigger-slot to allow it to pass through between the lugs 30 on the'trigger-plat-e. The rear extremity of thisfinger 154 is turned up slightly in order that when the trigger is pulled back as'far as it will go it may engage the rear lower corner of the detent and by forcing this corner up throw the upper part of the detent forward and the tooth 58 into locking engagement with the trigger. The forward end of the spring 56, which passes under the detent, must be slotted or perforated to allow the finger 154: to pass through te engage the detent. Now

if the triggcris released unintentionally while the gun is recoiliug the action of the recoil, as explained before, will be to keep the detent in engagement with the trigger, so that the trigger cannot move far enough to free the sear-actuator from engagement with the sear. Consequently the actuator cannot shift into engagementwith the left sear. The unintentional pull is then given as the gun ceases its recoil, and then the trigger is intentionally released. As the finger 154 commences to fall the tooth 58 will be moved back from the trigger by the spring 56 and will be out of the way of the shoulders 39 as the trigger returns to its normal position. I

The detent instead of being actuated directly by a spur on the trigger may be actuated by any other convenient way of communicating the motion of the trigger to the detent.

Of course it will be understood that the nonessential features and details of the construction may bevaried more or less from the form described without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In a firearm, the combination with gunlocks, of a trigger provided with means for successively actuating the gun-locks and having a locking-shoulder, a detent mounted in operative relation to the trigger and arranged to have interlocking engagement with said looking-shoulder and having a squared lower end, and a detent-spring pressing upwardly against said squared lower end to normally hold said detent free from the trigger, substantially as described.

2. In a firearm, the combination with gunlocks, of a trigger provided with a downwardlyfacing locking-shoulder and having means for successively actuating said gunlocks, a detent mounted on a stationary pivot adjacent to the trigger and having an upwardly-faeing shoulder arranged to interlock with the locking shoulder and having a squared lower end, and a detent-spring pressing upwardly against said squared lower end to normally hold said detent free from the trigger, substantially as described.

3. In a firearm, the combination with an action mechanism, and locks provided with scars, of a single trigger, a searactuator mounted on the trigger to engage successively with the scars, means controlled by the action mechanism to set the sear-actuator in position to fire the first barrel, a detent on a stationary pivot adapted to have interlocking relation with the trigger to check its return motion in the interval between the first and second shots, said detent having a' squared lower end, and a spring pressing upwardly against said squared lower end.

4. In a firearm, the combination with gunlocks having sears, of a single trigger, a scaractuator pivoted to said trigger, and a single spring arranged to hold the trigger in operative relation and to urge the sear-actuator to one of its operative positions, substantially as described. I

5.111 a firearm, the combination with gunlocks, of a trigger provided with means for successively actuating the gun-locks and having a locking-shoulder, a detent mounted in operative relation to said shoulderaud adapt- 105 ed to engage therewith upon the discharge of the gun to prevent said trigger from returning immediately to its normal position, and means carried by said trigger for positively forcing said detent into engagement with said I 10 locking-shoulder.

6. In a firearm, the combination with gunloeks, of a trigger provided with means for successively actuating the gun-locks and having alocking-shoulder, a detent pivoted at 1ts 1 15 lower end mounted at the rear of the trigger and adapted to engage with said lockingshoulder to hold the trigger raised, and a spur carried by the trigger adapted to press against the lower portion of said detent when the trigger is pulled so as to positively turn said detent about its. pivot and cause it to engage with said locking-shoulder, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my I2 5 hand in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES JOHN IIEWSON.

Witnesses:

DANIEL ANDREW BAIN,

ILLA GRACE LAMB. 

